Thursday, April 28, 2016

The era of "always low prices" no longer translates into always high profits. Learn what we think is behind the shiftBy Elliott Wave International

Walmart founder Sam Walton said:

"There is only one boss. The customer. And he can fire everybody in the company from the chairman on down, simply by spending his money somewhere else."

Never were those words felt more acutely for those on the Walmart payroll than right now. Reason being: Over the last year, the eponymous Walmart "customer" has, indeed, taken his business elsewhere, fueling a series of epic setbacks for the retail giant:

Store closures, layoffs, and the shuttering of its entire fleet of smaller "Express" locations across the U.S.

A near 40% decline in its stock (WMT) before hitting bottom in November 2015

Losing its status as the world's #1 retailer to Amazon

And -- the sour cherry on top: The first decline in annual revenue since Walmart went public 45 years ago

In the words of a March 31 Bloomberg: It's "the end of an era for Walmart."

Which leaves one question: How the heck does a big-box behemoth go from retail victor to re-fail victim?

Well, according to the mainstream experts, the main cause of Walmart's woes are many-fold, from falling oil prices - to - China's flailing economy - to - the extinction of the brick-and-mortar store - to - the biggest baddest culprit of all, the brawny greenback: